IFC Data Completeness Check

Audit metadata completeness — missing element names, property sets, owner history, and classifications. Run it on its own, or stack it with other checks in the Validation Center.

Check whether an IFC model actually carries data where downstream work expects it. Upload the model and find the elements with no property sets at all, and the property sets that exist but hold nothing.

A model can be geometrically perfect and useless as a source of information. Facilities handover, cost planning, asset registers and every rule-based check all read properties rather than shapes, and an export that dropped its property sets looks identical in a viewer to one that kept them. This is the cheap first question — is there data here at all? — asked before anyone builds a workflow on the assumption that there is.

When to reach for it: Before a COBie or IDS handover, or any deliverable with a data-drop specification. Catches elements missing the names, property sets, or classifications a downstream consumer expects.

What you get: A findings list of elements missing names, property sets, owner history, or classifications — exportable to BCF, HTML, or CSV for hand-off to the model author.

Example: Audit for elements missing the property sets your delivery spec requires before a COBie or IDS handover.

Two signals, deliberately few

Products with no property set at all — MEDIUM, once more than a threshold share of the model's products are bare. One undecorated element means nothing; a model where most elements carry no data means the export was misconfigured, and that is worth knowing before it's built on.
Empty property sets — LOW. A set attached to an element with no parameters in it: harmless, but it signals a template applied without being populated, and it makes a model look better-documented than it is when someone counts psets rather than reading them.

Why it stays this light on purpose

It would be easy to make this check assert requirements — Pset_WallCommon must be present on every IfcWall, FireRating must be filled in, and so on. It deliberately does not, because that job already has a better tool and an open standard behind it. The IDS Checker validates a model against a buildingSMART IDS specification, which is where "which properties are required on which classes" belongs: written down, shareable, agreed with the client, and version-controlled rather than encoded in someone's checker.

So the two don't compete. This check answers "does this model carry data?" in one pass with no configuration. The IDS Checker answers "does this model meet OUR requirements?" — and if you don't have an IDS spec yet, the IDS Maker builds one visually, or from a spreadsheet.

Filling the gaps once you know where they are

Add Custom IFC Properties attaches new property sets to targeted elements, and Excel to IFC pushes per-element values back in from a spreadsheet after whoever holds the data has filled it in — matched by GlobalId, creating the property set if it doesn't exist. That pair is the usual route from "the model has no asset data" to "the model has asset data" without going back to the authoring tool.

Extract IFC Data is the way to see what IS there: export the elements and their properties to Excel and read the gaps directly. Stack this check with the rest of the atomic checks in the Validation Center to get completeness alongside geometry, units and spatial structure in one pass.

How to check IFC data completeness

Upload your IFC file
Click Run — no configuration needed
Review elements missing names, property sets, owner history, or classifications
Export to BCF, HTML, or CSV

Under the hood

BIMCamel parses IFC files in the browser using the open-source web-ifc engine and renders models with @thatopen/components + three.js. Heavy operations (clean / optimise / validate / convert) run on disposable server-side workers using the same web-ifc stack plus our own .NET pipeline; results stream back to your browser as soon as they're ready. Uploads sit on our servers only as long as your tier's retention window allows and are never used to train AI.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find IFC elements with no properties?

Run this check — it reports products carrying no property set at all, and flags the model at Medium severity once more than a threshold share of products are bare, which is the signature of a misconfigured export rather than a few undecorated elements.

What's an empty property set?

A property set attached to an element with no parameters inside it — usually a template applied but never populated. It's Low severity: harmless, but it makes a model look better-documented than it is if anyone counts property sets instead of reading them.

Can it check that a specific property is present?

That's what the IDS Checker is for. Requirements like "Pset_WallCommon must be on every IfcWall" belong in a buildingSMART IDS specification — written down, shareable and agreed — rather than hard-coded into a generic check. Use the IDS Maker if you don't have a spec yet.

How do I add the missing data?

Add Custom IFC Properties attaches new property sets to targeted elements. For per-element values, export to Excel with Extract IFC Data, have whoever holds the data fill it in, and push it back with Excel to IFC — rows are matched by GlobalId.

What's the maximum IFC file size?

Up to 25 MB as a guest, 100 MB with a free account, 500 MB on Pro, and 1 GB on Team. The caps are on upload size only — every tool itself is available on every tier.

What happens to my file after processing?

Your file is uploaded over HTTPS and processed on our servers. Guest uploads are stream-only — the working files are deleted as soon as your download finishes. Free accounts keep results for 7 days; Pro keeps them 90 days and Team 180 days. Files are never shared with third parties or used to train AI.

Is IFC Data Completeness Check free?

Yes. IFC Data Completeness Check is free to use — guests get 3 runs a day with 25 MB uploads, and a free account raises that to 10 runs a day with 100 MB uploads. No trial clock, no watermarks.